For some electronic applications it may be desirable to operate in a vacuum environment. Electronic applications for a vacuum environment may require specialized components, for example, connectors, cables, etc. so as to reduce or avoid contamination of the vacuum environment by the components. For example, contamination of the vacuum environment may occur from air pockets captured by the components placed in the vacuum environment and/or outgassing of the components over time. To address this, one approach is to use a hermetic bulkhead connector with a seal that is terminated to a non-hermetic cable. However, a non-hermetic cable may be subject to outgassing, and thus may contaminate the vacuum environment.
A standard semi-rigid coaxial cable, for example, is generally not hermetic and thus cannot be used in a vacuum environment for the reasons stated above, although with respect to electrical performance, a standard semi-rigid coaxial cable is desirable. To protect the integrity of the vacuum environment, it is generally desirable that a cable used in the vacuum environment be fabricated using methods and materials that result in reduced electrical performance.